This
course offers a new inclusive, innovative educational program for spiritual
transformation for contemporary believers, activists and ministers. The aim is
to inspire all to be visionaries, mystics and prophets in our time.

Each
topic will present a beautiful tapestry of the God of life present in all and
working for justice for all. The purpose is to integrate theological insights
and spiritual experiences in order to develop commonsense approaches to living
a faith-filled life of contemplation, compassion and prophetic action for justice
in our world today.

The group used the "lectio Divino" sacred reading approach to reflect on the text, take a prayerful pause to let it sink into the depths of the soul, and then share insights.

The
God who is beyond all images and beyond all telling can be described in the
following images from scripture: “father, of course and also mother, midwife,
shepherd, lover, artist, potter, liberator, friend, Wisdom, hovering mother
bird, angry mother bear, blowing wind, blazing flame, flowing water,
unapproachable light, the One in whom we live and move and have our being.”Loving
the Earth: Through time, “God was continuously empowering the cosmos’ own
creative emergence.” The natural world is a beautiful sacrament of divine
presence.The
task now is to develop a “life-affirming theology of earth/matter/ bodies, one
that will do better justice to this world that God makes and so loves.”We
must hand on to the “next generation a faith that loves the earth.”p.9

"The
Messiah “heals the sick, exorcises demons, forgives sinners, and cares for
those whose lives are a heavy burden. He practices table companionship so
inclusive that it gives scandal.” MT. 11:19 He establishes divine solidarity
with those who lack basic necessities. (Mt 25:35, 42) “Neglecting the least of
these means turning your back on God.”

…”Jesus
death on the cross is the price he paid for his prophetic ministry…He is risen
that there will be a blessed future for all the violated and the dead, cast off
as if their lives had no meaning.” Contemporary theology is “moving away from
the notion of the cross as a death required by God in repayment for sin and toward an
appreciation of the cross as an event of
divine compassion in solidarity with human suffering, sin and death.” P.14.

Atonement
theology comes from St. Anslem in the 11century. He took the idea of
satisfaction as it was practiced in feudal times and applied it to God, namely
that our sins so offend God that he demands death as recompense. “Aquinas,
Scotus and others criticized this theory… but it won the day for the next
thousand years.”p.13.

Criticism
of atonement theology is:

1.It
focuses on purpose of Jesus’ life was to die.

2.Diminishes
importance of ministry

3.Glorifies
suffering rather than joy as path to God

4.Fosters
domestic violence and child abuse

5.Image
of blood thirsty God placated by suffering

Cross

1.Not
as repayment for sin, event of divine love

2.Creator
of world entered into contact with human suffering, sinfulness and death in
order to heal, liberate and redeem from within

3.Jesus
did not come to die but to live and help others live in the joy of the reign of
God. God is not a sadistic father, and
Jesus was not a passive victim of divine desire for satisfaction.

4.Rather
his suffering, borne in love out of fidelity to his ministry and his God is
precisely the way our gracious God has chosen to enter into solidarity with all
those who suffer are lost in this violent world, thereby, opening up the
promise of new life out of the very center of death." P. 14.

Presider: In the name of God, our father/mother, and of Jesus Christ Sophia, and of the Holy Spirit, our liberator. ALL: Amen.

Presider: My sisters and brothers, God is with you! ALL: And also with you.

Presider: Let us pause to reflect on God’s boundless love and our need for forgiveness and healing.

(Silent reflection)

(all extend hands and recite prayer of general absolution)

Presider: May the God of love, forgive us our lack of trust in God’s Spirit moving with us, in us and through us as witnesses of God’s love for all.

ALL: Amen.

ALL: Glory to God in the highest, and peace to God’s people on earth. O loving God, we worship you, we give you thanks, we praise you for your glory. O Jesus, Christ, Sophia, Loving God; You take away the sin of the world: have mercy on us. You who are one with our God, receive our prayer. For you alone are the Holy One; you alone are Messiah. You alone are the Most High, Jesus, Christ Sophia; with the Holy Spirit, in the glory of God. Amen.

OPENING PRAYER

Presider: Spirit of God, you moved over the waters breathing life, freedom and joy into creation. Fill us, bathe us, drench us with your healing, refreshing love. Make us a life-giving river spilling over and splashing justice, truth and love over all. ALL: Amen

LITURGY OF THE WORD

1st Reading: Isaiah 42: 1-4, 6-7

Psalm 29

2nd Reading: Acts 10: 34 – 38

Gospel Acclamation: “ Alleluia, Word of God” – # 932

Gospel: Luke 3: 15-16,21-22

HOMILY

MMOJ – HOMILY – Baptism of Jesus, Year C – January 9/10,
2016

Janet Blakeley

Remember the story about Mary who went to visit her
cousin Elizabeth –

Mary walked into the room, carrying Jesus within her,

and John – recognizing the presence of Jesus – jumped
for joy!

Well, here we are – thirty years later – the two cousins
face to face.

Jesus knew of John’s reputation for prophesying about
the coming Messiah,

and calling people to prepare for his
coming.

So Jesus comes to where John is preaching and says
“Baptize me.”

John responds with “What?” -or perhaps
“Why?”

John knows that he is standing in the face of
holiness.

Does he intuit that Jesus is THE
Messiah?

If so, why would HE be preparing for the coming of the
Messiah?

That may seem like a silly question,

But I suggest that Jesus had to prepare for the
coming of the Messiah – within himself.

St.
Paul tell us that Jesus “was a man like us
in every way but sin.” Now -

A human being like us does not know everything when he
or she comes into the world.

and I doubt that Jesus knew who he was or the role he
was to play in God’s plan – until he was baptized.

The presence of the Holy Spirit was so noticeable at his
baptism that people wrote about it!

It was in receiving of the Spirit in fullness, that
Jesus was compelled to retreat to the dessert to come to terms with what it
meant to be God’s Beloved.

While he was contemplating that, Scripture tells us that
he was “tempted by the Devil.”

We recognize the temptations he struggled with as the
temptations experienced by every human being –

the attraction to power,

the attraction to wealth,

thinking of oneself as superior to others,
etc.

What this shows us is that Jesus had to deal with his
humanness – those parts of his humanity that made it difficult to simply accept
God’s love for him.

Jesus emerged from the dessert a new man,

with ego completely in check,

heart locked on God.

Going through his inner hurdles, he met his divinity,

and from then on his life was lived in
God.

From then on, the face he showed to the world was the
face of God.

This is what receiving the Holy Spirit at baptism meant
for the man, Jesus,

It is what it means for us.

This is why Jesus told the disciples to “keep on
baptizing”

Most of us can’t recall our baptism, but it happened
nonetheless.

We too are God’s Beloved, but much of our inner “stuff”
prevents us from experiencing that love.

We too received the light of the Spirit,

We too are called to go within to come to know and
accept ourselves,

to face our own weaknesses and failings,

to encounter Divinity.

We too are to emerge from our inner work, our faces
shining like the sun, showing God to the world.

Ultimately, why did Jesus have to be
baptized?

To show us the way to God.

Blessing of the Water:

Presider: May this water remind us of the holiness of earth. May the Spirit of God move in this water once again and make us a wellspring of love spilling over with compassion for all. ALL: Amen

Blessing of the People:

Presider: May you be blessed and renewed in your baptismal promises to God, yourself, and the People of God! (Sprinkle all, including presider, with blessed water.)

Profession of Faith: ALL: We believe in God, the creator and lover of all. We believe in Jesus, the Christ, who shows us how to live in the fullness of God’s love. We believe in the Holy Spirit, the breath of God, who empowers us with spiritual gifts for loving service of our sisters and brothers. We believe in Shekinah, God’s dwelling among the people. We believe in Sophia, Holy Wisdom, leading us to justice, and equality. We believe in Christ Sophia, nourishing us with abundant life as the Body of Christ at the table, on the table and around the table at the Banquet of love.

GENERAL INTERCESSIONS

Presider: That we may be faithful to our promises to the People of God, we pray… Response: Hear us, O God!

Presider: That we may use earth’s resources wisely, we pray…R.

Presider: That the Spirit of God, like Living Water, would break down resistances and barriers between people and between groups of believers, we pray…R.

Presider: For what else shall we pray?

Presider: Loving God, we have spoken of our needs and hopes and some of them remain silently in our hearts. Listen to the fullness of our petitions and help us to effect these changes for the better in our world.

ALL: Amen

Offertory – #61 “Come to the Water”, verses 1,2,4

PREPARATION OF THE GIFTS

Presider: Blessed are you, God of all life, through your goodness we have bread, wine, all creation, and our own lives to offer. Through this sacred meal may we become your new creation.

ALL: Blessed be God forever.

Presider: God dwells in you. ALL: And also with you. Presider: Lift up your hearts. ALL: We lift them up to God.

Presider: Let us give thanks to our God. ALL: It is right to give God thanks and praise.

Everyone is welcome to join us around the altar and to receive Holy Communion

EUCHARISTIC PRAYER

Voice 1:

We praise you, Wellspring of Love, in whom we live and move and have our being. You have sent Jesus, Sophia’s child, the Wisdom of the Ages, to show us that the heart of religion is worshipping you in spirit and in truth. You revealed your identity to the Samaritan woman at the well. You continue to reveal your identity to us today. You embrace every nation, race, creed and culture as your own.

Voice 2: O Divine Companion, you look at each of us with great tenderness. May we see ourselves loved by you totally. God of relationships, you reveal yourself in other people. Holy One, Compassionate One, Gracious One, your glory embraces heaven and earth. Like sun-drenched waters that sparkle, all human faces reflect your radiant splendor. You love each of us as if we were the only person in the world. Blessed is Jesus who comes in the name of Sophia! Hosanna in the highest.

Voice 3:

O surging Ocean of Grace, you energize us with Spirit and passion, connecting us with all creatures in the depth of your unending love. You wash us clean of resentment and hostility and scrub away the debris that pollutes our spirits. We ask you to make us new as you did in the waters of our baptism. Immerse us in the Love that dances for joy in your presence. We gather to celebrate our sacred stories as we welcome all people around this banquet table. We remember Jesus-Sophia who invites us to come and drink of the waters that will quench our thirst forever.

(please all extend hands as we recite the consecration together)

ALL: The night before pouring forth his love for all people, Jesus took bread, broke it and shared it with his beloved companions, saying:

Take this, all of you, and eat it. This is my body which will be given for your healing.

Then, looking with tender warmth on his friends, Jesus took a cup of wine, praised Sophia, and shared the cup, saying:

ALL: Take this all of you and drink from it; this is the cup of my blood, the blood that will satisfy the longings of human hearts for all times. It will be poured out for the healing and wholeness of all creation. Remember always you are a reflection of divinity.

Presider:

Let us proclaim the mystery of our dying and rising in Christ: ALL: Jesus-Sophia comforts us in our losses, cries with us in our sorrow, and promises that our innermost beings will flow with rivers of living water, even in the midst of our suffering and pain.

Voice 4: As we share this holy meal, we remember the holy men and women who drank from Wisdom’s well and showed us how to live as courageous disciples: the prophet Miriam, the woman at the well, Paul of Tarsus, Prisca and Aquila, Clare and Francis of Assisi, Dorothy Day, Ita Ford, Bishop Oscar Romero and all those companions we cherish and who bless and challenge us on our faith journey…..whose names we now name……..

Voice 5:

May the Church be anchored in the still waters of your presence where abundant blessings flow forever. O Holy One who lives in our hearts, we celebrate your radiant image in men and women everywhere. Your creativity flows through our beings. Your joy fills us. Your blessings are the wellspring of grace all around us. Your mercy is fresh, like dew, every morning. Your healing liberates us from all darkness and oppression. Your empowerment bubbles up inside us.

ALL: For you are the Love that dwells in our depths, the Wisdom of the Ages that speaks through us, the Divine Connection that makes us all one Amen.

THE PRAYER OF JESUS

ALL: Our Father and Mother… (Spoken)

Presider: Deliver us, God, from every evil and grant us peace in our day. In your mercy keep us from sin and protect us from all anxiety as we wait in joyful hope for the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

ALL: For the kin-dom, the power, and the glory are yours, now and forever. Amen.

THE SIGN OF PEACE

Presider: Peaceful Waters, we share the abundant love that flows among us as we embrace each other with open hearts. Look on the faith of all and grant us the peace and unity of your kin-dom where you live forever and ever. ALL: Amen.

Presider: May the peace of Christ Sophia be always with you. ALL: And also with you.

Presider: Let us offer each other a sign of peace

LITANY FOR THE BREAKING OF BREAD

ALL: Loving God, You call us to speak truth to power, have mercy on us. Loving God, You call us to live the Gospel of peace and justice, have mercy on us. Loving God, You call us to be Your presence in the world. Grant us peace.

Presider: Let us share the Body of Christ with the Body of Christ! ALL: Amen.

Communion: Instrumental (“Jesus, Come to Us”)

Communion Song: #400, “Jesus Come to Us”, verses 1,2,3

PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION

Presider: O God, thank you for refreshing us in your sacrament. May we experience your life-giving waters welling up within us as we serve others with glad hearts. ALL: Amen.

CONCLUDING RITE

Presider: Christ Sophia is with you ALL: and also with you.

BLESSING

(Please extend your hands in mutual blessing)

Presider: May the Spirit who moved over the waters of creation renew the earth. May Jesus Sophia satisfy our thirst for living fully. May the God of play fill our hearts to overflowing this day with our hearts’ delights.

ALL: Amen.

DISMISSAL & CONCLUDING HYMN

Presider: Go in the peace of Christ Sophia. Let the service begin! ALL: Thanks be to God.

This January 2016 begins the 14th year of illegal imprisonment and
torture by the U.S. government of the men held at the U.S. military prison at
Guantanamo. Recently, President Obama announced the release of 17 men. 104 of
the original 779 remain. We of Witness Against Torture await the release of the
remaining men and the permanent closure of Guantanamo. http://www.witnesstorture.org/events/

In
January 2015 I took part in the Witness Against Torture gathering in Washington,
D.C.

Eleven
of us -- ordinary citizens and members of Witness Against Torture – exercised
our First Amendment Rights on January 12, 2015 just a little over a month after
the release of the U.S. Senate Torture Report on the CIA’s Detention and
Interrogation Program at Guantanamo.

In the
Senate Chamber Gallery, we called out: “U.S. Torture! It’s Official! Prosecute
Now! Waterboarding…Rectal Feeding…. For reminding our Senators of
their preeminent responsibility to uphold the Constitution by prosecuting the
torturers of the men at Guantanamo, we were charged with disorderly conduct.
Perhaps the CIA, Department of Defense, former President Bush and the officials
of his administration wanted to avoid the publicity.

On
Monday morning June 22,2015, the day of our trial, the
U.S. prosecuting attorney announced that the government wasn’t ready for the
trial and our case was basically dismissed. Now, I’d like to share the notes in
preparation for my testimony…

I
followed my conscience when I spoke out in the Senate gallery. As a woman
priest, I celebrate the Eucharist around the country: A Eucharist is re-membering the face
of Christ in each person, including our Muslim brothers at
Guantanamo.

On
Thursday, June 18, 2015, our Republican-led Senate took a historic bipartisan
vote to end CIA torture by voting 78-21 for the McCain-Feinstein Amendment to
the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). As a person of faith this vote
expresses the moral principle that torture is always
wrong.

I came
to the Senate Chamber to remind legislators that they reflect the conscience and
soul of the nation when they make its laws. By violating basic human rights, our
nation has lost its integrity and its right to challenge human rights violations in other
countries. This must be remedied, because it has an impact
even on our children, so they do not resort to
violence.

We must
uphold the Senate Torture Report, prosecute those responsible and return the men
at Guantanamo to their families. Our own children, and
the world, are watching.

I am a
Roman Catholic Woman Priest, ordained on Aug. 9, 2008, Feast day of Franz
Jagerstatter, an Austrian father of four who was inducted into the NAZI army,
but refused to fight because he obeyed his conscience: that place inside our
soul where we hear truth, the voice of God.

The Catholic Church teaches us to be
faithful to the primacy of conscience. The NAZIS beheaded Jaggerstatter for
following his, but during the Nuremberg
trials, which gave rise to the Nuremberg principles that are now international
law, it became clear that a moral choice is as important as a legal
choice.

The
International Bill of Human Rights, which includes the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights, and which our country signed after World War II, is international
law, and we are bound as members of the United Nations, to uphold international
law. This principle is embedded in our constitution and our
foundational documents.

My mother’s parents migrated here from
Poland at the turn of the last century when it was still divided among three
foreign nations. In 1959, at age 9, I got my first look at this
nation which gave birth to the Solidarity movement. I watched the documentary of
the death camps during the NAZI occupation.

Today we have death
camps in Guantanamo and the new documentary is the Senate Torture Report.
Today, the US is terrorizing the Muslim people of the Mideast.

Poles
are outraged that the U.S. operated a black site in Poland and tortured two
Muslim men: Abu Zu
bay dah and Abd al-Ra him al-Na shir ri.

In July
2014, the European
Court of Human Rights formally
ruled that so-called "enhanced interrogation" is torture, and ordered Poland to
pay $250,000 restitution to these men tortured at a CIA black
site there.

I was
raised to respect people of other ethnicities and faiths. I learned what
anti-Semitism did in Poland. In Guantanamo we are seeing the same
principles in action: homophobia, hate crimes
against Muslims, the abuse of the Koran and not allowing the men to wear their
turbans which is part of their religious tradition (just as I’m wearing a
sacramental stole and others wear their collars).

For 15
years, I taught English as a second language as a public school teacher to
children from 65 countries, all the world’s “hot spots”. I heard the stories
from my children from Rwanda whose fathers were tortured in front of them and whose
mothers were raped and disappeared…like the men at Guantanamo who have been sexually abused. I’ve seen my Palestinian
students jump five feet in the air when a door slams like the men at Guantanamo
when their interrogators storm into their cells.

As a
peace activist, I’ve learned about torture at the annual Vigil at Ft. Benning in
Columbus, GA atthe School of the
Americas, where torture techniques are taught. Here torture victims from Latin
America (human rights organizers, labor activists, mothers and fathers) share
their stories. At Guantanamo it’s the Navy and US soldiers, not foreign ones,
who torture, with sadistic techniques exported to Abu Ghraib under General
Miller.

In 2006, I journeyed into the wilderness in
solidarity with my indigenous children from Mexico
and Central America. With the Christian Peacemaker Team I walked for six days
and five nights covering 75 miles into the Sonora Desert as part of the Migrant
Trail Walk. Here, I learned how people die in extreme temperatures from
our border policies in the same way aspeople die in Guantanamo
naked in freezing cold rooms or holding onto their humanity by not eating like
Tariq Ba Odah.

In front
of the White House during a Witness Against Torture action I read poetry by the
men held in Guantanamo subjected to torture. I experienced their breadth and
depth of soul…. I ask, what has happened to the soul of this country? I testify
in ways that show the humanity of the men at Guantanamo.

It’s
been 13 years now. For the mothers who have sons in Guantanamo, Jan.
12th is the13th anniversary of their separation from their
sons. As a mother who’s lost a son, my heart aches for these women. They have no
date to look forward to when they can hug their children again. I also cry for
us… and the heartless men and women described in the Senate Torture Report.
(rest)

With the
SOA Watch delegation I traveled to El Salvador and heard a campesino speakabout the Dirty Wars and the death squads.
In the Romero Chapel at the University of Central America I gasped in horror at
the charcoal paintings on the wall of the torture victims just as I do when I
see photos of our tortured Muslim brothers at
Guantanamo.

Last summerI stood by the bay in
Montevideo, Uruguay where the bodies of tortured Argentinian activists would
wash ashore. In the Museum of Memory of human rights atrocities, I stood under a
canopy of photos of the tortured and disappeared. President Pepe Mujica of Uruguay –who was
tortured and incarcerated in solitary confinement for 12 years –invited six of
the men from Guantanamo to live in his country…

In
Buenos Aires, we walked through the secret torture rooms at EMSA, the Naval
Station, and I saw the room for the pregnant women whose babies were torn away
from them. I learned that the SOA taught torture here. Patricia, our guide in
Buenos Aires and a good friend of Christina the President, was
tortured for 27 months, beginning at the age of 15, at a nearby police
station. She and others eventually took their seven torturers to trial and
they are serving long sentences. Two died in prison. When will we prosecute the
torturers of our Muslim brothers at Guantanamo?

I’ve
been a delegate to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women three
times for St. Joan’s International Alliance, a
104- year -old Catholic feminist organization that has worked through the
League of Nations and the UN to stop the sexual torture of girls, female genital
mutilation which reminded me of rectal feeding – rape of the men at Guantanamo.
I learned that U.S. torture of detainees at Guantanamo violated International
Law, Human Rights Law and our own Constitutional
Law.

Every
human being, including so-called “aliens,” is entitled to habeas corpus,
equality and equal protection under the law. Like Pilate, we torture and murder
people who have never been tried or condemned. But instead of purple cloaks,
we’ve dressed them in orange jumpsuits and black hoods.

In
Guantanamo, these men are contained and the global community is appalled and
supposed to look the other way because they’re suspect of terrorism…and they’re
being held and tortured without due process…outside the
law.

From an
international perspective, Guantanamo is everybody’s concern. From the UN point
of view, the US Senate Report must be legally binding. We want people
prosecuted: the CIA, the Department of Defense, President Bush and officials of
his administration need to be held accountable.

If
people are not held accountable, this makes people’s lives
unlivable.

Modern
day prophet Sr. Megan Rice who entered the tortuous and insane Y-12 Nuclear
Weapons Complex at Oak Ridge, Tennessee said. “All citizens are required to
expose and oppose known crimes.”

We
didn’t disrupt the Senate Chamber Gallery. We interrupted legally.
And by finally voting against torture in overwhelming numbers, the Senate
has affirmed our action.

...."a renowned authority on the Gospel of Matthew, Dominican Fr. Benedict Thomas Viviano, believes it entirely possible that women could have been among the Magi portrayed in the Matthean birth narrative. Viviano is professor emeritus at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland. He also wrote the commentary on Matthew in The New Jerome Biblical Commentary.Matthew is the only Gospel that says anything at all about Magi. You may be surprised to learn that this Gospel does not ascribe number, gender or royal status to the Wise Ones from the East. The traditional number three was deduced from the three gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, and the idea that the Magi were kings didn't appear until the fifth century. Matthew's use of the Greek masculine plural magoi for magi can be used inclusively, just as the English word "men" often includes women.But there is more to Viviano's wonderfully provocative claim than grammar. Matthew's Gospel was meant for a Jewish audience. Viviano specializes in examining the book of Matthew in light of its literary connections to the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament). It is upon this analysis that he bases his arguments about female magoi.According to Viviano, "The main reason to think of the presence of one or more women among the magi is the background story of the queen of Sheba, with her quest for Israelite royal wisdom, her reverent awe, and her three gifts fit for a king."

The first book of Kings, Chapter 10:1-29, narrates the visit of the queen to King Solomon with gifts of gold and spices such as myrrh and frankincense.

Viviano believes viewing the Solomon-Sheba background as a close biblical parallel to the Magi story opens up some "previously neglected possibilities" such as the "wisdom and feminine aspects of the narrative."He points to the Israelite tradition of personifying wisdom as female (Proverbs 8:22-30, 9:1-6 and Sirach 24) and notes that for Matthew, Jesus embodies wisdom (Matthew 11:19, 25-30).Even more compelling to me is that in the Middle East it would have been inconceivable for men to be in the presence of a woman without the presence of other women. Joseph is conspicuously absent when the Magi visit. This is surprising, since Matthew's infancy account normally narrates events from the point of view of Joseph. (In Luke's account, Mary is more prominent).The phrase "the child and his mother" is used five times in the Magi-flight-into-Egypt narrative (Matthew 2:11, 13, 14, 19, 21). For Viviano, "The presence of Jesus' mother Mary is an explicit statement of the presence of a woman at the time of the magi's visit. It is a question of attending to the feminine resonances in the text."

Scholars tell us that the magoi were a caste associated with the interpretation of dreams, astrology, Zoroastrianism and magic. In support of Viviano's thesis, Zoroastrianism allowed women to serve as priests and in ancient Persia there were female astronomers and rulers....."

[A Sister of St. Joseph, Sr. Christine Schenk served urban families for 18 years as a nurse midwife before co-founding FutureChurch, where she served for 23 years. She holds master's degrees in nursing and theology.]

Phone: (850) 488-7146Email: Rick.scott@eog.myforida.comDEATH WARRANT!Less than 24 hours after the execution of Oscar
Bolin, Gov. Rick Scott has ordered the state killing of Mark Asay for March 17
at 6pm. Mike Lambrix is scheduled to be executed on
February 11 at 6pm.The U.S. Supreme Court is to rule sometime
before June if Florida’s death sentencing scheme is unconstitutional. It is
unconscionable that executions would be carried out while awaiting the high
court’s decision. Florida’s death penalty program is the most
mistake-ridden in the nation. Since executions resumed in the 1970’s, Florida
has executed 92 people while at the same time 26 people were exonerated and
released from Death Row. That’s a rate of more than one exoneration for every
four executions. Contact Gov. Scott and ask him to suspend
ALL executions.Phone: (850)
488-7146Email: Rick.scott@eog.myforida.comThe statewide coalition to end executions
needs your help now. Please make the work possible by making a donation today. Sent by:Mark ElliottExecutive
DirectorFloridians for Alternatives to the Death
Penalty, fadp.orgFADPP.O. Box 82943Tampa, FL
33682Floridians for
Alternatives to the Death Penalty is a coalition of organizations and
individuals united to abolish the death penalty in Florida

FADP works to
build a strong, diverse statewide grassroots movement which:* Opposes
executions* Supports reforms aimed at reducing the application of the death
penalty until it is abolished* Protects the humanity of all persons impacted
by the death penalty* Educates Floridians about the death penalty*
Provides concrete action steps for individuals and groups

Bridget Mary's Response:I agree with Tom Reese's basic analysis. Read full article, click on link above. The Roman Catholic Church treats women as second class citizens.Young women and men will not put up with a sexist church that excludes women from priesthood and from decision-making in teachings that affect their lives. Our international Roman Catholic Women Priests Movement is changing the church one inclusive, egalitarian, renewed grassroots community at a time. We are in 35 states in the U.S. and in North America, South America, Europe, Africa and Asia. The full equality of women in the church is the voice of God in our time. Bridget Mary Meehan, ARCWP www.arcwp.org

"...Many American conservative Catholics downplayed Catholic social teaching because it went contrary to their political and economic views or because they felt it would distract attention from the culture wars. They ignored or spun what John Paul and Benedict had to say about war and peace and economic justice.

I agree with Douthat that the conservative narrative is undercut by the sexual abuse crisis and the continued exodus of people (especially young people) from the church under John Paul and Benedict. I also agree that the progressive narrative is undercut by the rise of the Evangelicals and the decline of the mainline churches. While half those who leave the church become unchurched or "nones," about a third become Evangelical. Few in comparison join mainline churches.

Neither the conservative nor the progressive narrative has a good explanation for the Catholic exodus. My personal belief is that it has little to do with theology and more to do with a desire for emotionally charged worship services and a sense of community, which are absent from most Catholic parishes.

Narratives are important for explaining the world to ourselves and others. These competing conservative and progressive narratives help define the church of today. Can we have a conversation about them without name calling and stone throwing? I hope so."

Next week, my column, "Welcome to the cafeteria, Ross," will also be on Douthat's piece.

[Jesuit Fr. Thomas Reese is a senior analyst for NCR and author of Inside the Vatican: The Politics and Organization of the Catholic Church. His email address is treesesj@ncronline.org.]